Exodus 16

The third complaint (vs. 1-3)—The children of Israel moved on from Elim and came to a location called the Wilderness of Sin (v. 1). Their food supply must have run short because they complain “against Moses and Aaron” (v. 2), the third time in six weeks that they have murmured. Their complaint was really against the Lord, of course (v. 8). After all He had done for them, after all He had shown them, they still demonstrate virtually no faith in Him. Yet He remains patient with them—for awhile.

The promise of provisions (vs. 4-8)—The Lord told Moses that he would “rain bread from heaven” (v. 4). The people were to go out for six days and collect it, and on the sixth day, take twice as much (vs. 4-5). This was a “test” to see “whether they will walk in My law or not” (v. 4), i.e., will they trust and obey Him. The Lord would also provide them meat that night (but not every day). This would again teach the people something they seemed determined not to accept: “the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt” (v. 6). The “complaint” was again, in one sense, reasonable; the people needed food. But the lack of faith was again, unreasonable, given all they had seen Jehovah do for them.

The glory of the Lord (vs. 9-12)—The “glory of the Lord appeared” to the people in a cloud. Clouds are frequently part of God’s manifestation; Jesus will come again with the clouds (Revelation 1:5), and His judgments are also figuratively accompanied by clouds (Is. 19:1; Matt. 24:29-31). At this occasion (v. 11), Jehovah told Moses that He had heard the people’s complaint and would provide for them. Once more, Jehovah was trying to convince them that “I am the Lord your God” (v. 12).

“What is it?” (vs. 13-21)—That evening, as promised, the people had meat in the form of quail (v. 13), and the next morning, when the dew lifted, there “was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground” (v. 15). The people “said to one another, ‘What is it?’” (v. 15). It was a bread the Lord provided for them. They ended up calling it “manna,” which means “what” (v. 31). They were told how much to take—an omer per person. There is some disagreement as to exactly how much an omer was; verse 36 says it was “one-tenth of an ephah” (does that help you?). An omer was apparently between a half-gallon to three quarts. Regardless it should have been enough for the people. Moses commanded them not to leave any of it till the next day (v. 19). Of course, some of them did and “it bred worms and stank” (v. 20). But it was there for them each day they needed it.

The Sabbath day (vs. 22-31)—The Law of Moses had not yet been given, of course, but here the Lord commands observance of the seventh day, “a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord” (v. 23). The people were to cook what food they would need on the day before, and gather enough manna for two days, something He had told them already in verse 5. Naturally, “some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none” (v. 27). This angered the Lord, and He repeated that He had provided for them enough on sixth day: “See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day" (v. 29). So the Sabbath became a day of rest for the children of Israel (v. 30). Verse 31 tells us what manna looked like and what it consisted of: “it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” Whether the Lord provided them manna every day for the next 40 years is unknown. Perhaps they received the manna only when they needed it. The people did have their flocks and herds, of course, but they certainly wouldn’t want to thin those out too much.

The preservation of manna for posterity (vs. 32-36)—The Lord commanded Moses to set aside an omer of the manna, put it in a pot, and lay “it up before the Testimony” (v. 35). It would be put in the ark of the covenant once it was built. It would be there for hundreds of years as a perpetual reminder of what the Lord had done for them in Egypt and the wilderness.